Songwriter Teddy Geiger, who is nominated for her work on Shawn Mendes’ smash hits “Stitches” and “In My Blood” at tonight’s Grammys, got candid on the red carpet about the power of her visibility as a trans woman in the music industry.

“Since I’ve come out...it feels good to be a part of this movement of allowing people to be with their truth of who they are and be honest with themselves,” Geiger toldVariety. “For me to do that was such a huge shift in my own life. I’ve heard from a lot of other people that...coming out has helped them and that feels amazing.”

“There’s so many other people who by being visible and talking about their experience saved my life and gave me that freedom and that ability to move forward in my own life,” Geiger added. “So to do that for other people is awesome.”

In January, Geiger opened up about her transition to CBS, revealing that shame made it hard for her to come out. “I didn’t want to accept that was actually going on with me … but as soon as I let go of it, it became so much easier to just look at the whole thing clearly and be like okay, ‘I am trans’. That’s what’s real for me … how do I move forward now.”

The artist, who walked the Grammys red carpet with her fiancé, Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire, also spoke about the “long journey” to her nomination for Song of the Year. “It feels like some validation, like ok, cool, the dream is coming true,” she said on Sunday.